YINCHUAN -- An international cargo train connecting China and Central Asian countries set out from northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region on Wednesday.

The train, departing from Zhongning Land Port in Zhongning County, is destined for Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan, via Almaty in Kazakhstan. In future operations, the train will also stop in Tehran, Iran, according to border control authorities in the autonomous region.

The 50-car train has a transport capacity of 3,000 tonnes, and is expected to carry cargo valued at around $200 million annually, with four trips every month.

Another train carrying nearly 600 tonnes of chemicals departed for Europe on Tuesday from Chifeng City in Inner Mongolia, which borders Ningxia. The weekly train service will stop in countries including Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany and the Netherlands.

The two services form part of the buildup of international trade infrastructure known as the Silk Road Economic Belt. This initiative was proposed by China in 2013 to revive ancient routes of the Silk Road, which linked China with Central Asia and Europe.